United States Central Command
='UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND'= The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) ''is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command of the U.S. Department of Defense, established in 1983. It was originally conceived of as the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force '(RDJTF).'' Its area of responsibility includes countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, most notably Afghanistan and Iraq. CENTCOM has been the main American presence in many military operations, including the Persian Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), and the Iraq War. Forces from USCENTCOM (also called CENTCOM) currently are deployed primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan in combat roles and have bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, and central Asia in support roles. CENTCOM forces have also been deployed in Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in the past, and although there is a small presence remaining in each of those countreis, no substantial U.S. forces are based there as of 2009. The current commander of USCENTCOM is General Lloyd J. Austin, USA, who took command from General James Mattis, USMC on 22 March 2013. Mattis took command from Lieutenant General John Allen, USMC, the deputy commander since July 2008, who took temporary command when the previous commander, General David Petraeus, USA, left to take command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan on 23 June. Of the six American regional unified commands, CENTCOM is one of three regional unified commands whose headquarters are not within its area of operations. CENTCOM's main headquarters is located at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Florida, although a forward headquarters was established in 2002 at Camp As Sayliyah in Doha, Qatar, which transitioned to a new forward headquarters at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in 2009 to serve American strategic interests if the USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility (AOR) and Area of Interest (AOI). The other regional unified commands with headquarters located outside their areas of operations are United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), currently based in Miami, Florida, and United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM), currently based in Stuttgart, Germany. Exercise Internal Look is one of the Command's primary planning events. Up until around 1990, it was annual, but it is now held every two years. Up until 1990 it was frequently used to train CENTCOM to be ready to defend the Zagros Mountains from a Soviet attack.6 It has been employed for explicit war planning on at least two occasions: Internal Look '90, which was held after General Norman Schwarzkopf reoriented CENTCOM's planning to fending off a threat from Iraq, and Internal Look '03, which was used to plan what became Operation Iraqi Freedom. 'Current Commands' 'Subordinate Unified Commands' 'United States Air Force, Central' United States Air Forces Central (USAFCENT/AFCENT) is a unit of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint Department of Defense combatant command responsible for U.S. security interests in 27 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia. The commander was formerly dual-hatted as commander of Ninth Air Force. USAFCENT is responsible for air operations (either unilaterally or in concert with coalition partners) and developing contingency plans in support of national objectives for USCENTCOM's 20-nation area of responsibility in Southwest Asia.2 AFCENT has fought in the 1991 Gulf War, War in Afghanistan (OEF-A, 2001–present), the Iraq War (OIF, 2003-2010), as well as various engagements within USCENTCOM. 'United States Army, Central' Focusing primarily on the Middle East, Central Command and Second Army's area of responsibility (AOR) is a large and complex region. It stretches from the Central Asian States to the Horn of Africa. The AOR encompasses an area of approximately 6,500,000 square miles (17,000,000 km2) consisting of 27 countries populated by over 650 million people speaking 12 major languages and representing seven major religions. Within this strategically important region lay the historical crossroads of three continents, the majority of the world's oil and natural gas reserves, and the primary maritime link between Europe and Asia. Resources, differing geography, religious influences, and historical conflict have shaped this region for centuries and continue to do so today. 'United States Marine Force, Central' The Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command (COMUSMARCENT), is designated as the Marine Corps service component commander for Commander, U.S. Central Command (COMUSCENTCOM). MARCENT is responsible for all Marine Forces in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility (AOR) to include those serving at MARCENT, CENTCOM, Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and Special Operations Command, Central Command (SOCCENT). 'United States Naval Activity, Central' United States Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM). Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea. It consists of the United States Fifth Fleet and several other subordinate task forces, including Combined Task Force 150, Combined Task Force 158 and others. 'United States Special Operations Command, Central' The Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) is a sub-unified command of the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM). It is responsible for planning special operations throughout the USCENTCOM area of responsibility (AOR), planning and conducting peacetime joint/combined special operations training exercises, and orchestrating command and control of peacetime and wartime special operations as directed. The command is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. SOCCENT (formerly known as Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command) is located at Al Udeid in Qatar. The Command's motto is Molon Labe (Greek for "Come and take them", reportedly said by King Leonidas I of Sparta before the Battle of Thermopylae in response to the Persian demand to surrender their weapons.) <<<< BACK Category:UCC Category:Unified Combatant Command Category:Combatant Commands Category:Central Category:Commands Category:Unified Commands Category:Central Command Category:Tau'ri Commands Category:Earth Commands Category:United States Commands Category:United States Of America Commands Category:US Commands Category:USA Commands